Every Monday, during the early part of the war, it was obligatory for all staff to wear their gas masks to and from lunch in order to grow accustomed to moving around in them, which must have been an unnerving sight. All staff retained the uniforms of their own hospitals, so there was much variety in colour and style. Several London hospitals were evacuated here, including St ThomasвЂ™s, St JamesвЂ™s Hospital, Balham, The Bolingbroke, The Belgrave and The Evelina. One of the huts was used as an operating theatre with room for three operations to be carried out at the same time, and one was reserved for German prisoners of war. PatientsвЂ™ meals were brought over from the kitchens at Botleys Park mansion, and served on a large table in the middle of each ward. The huts were built in two rows up a hill with the strip of land in between them being known as The Ramp.

In total there were 864 beds made available to the War Hospital Emergency Service.Д®ach hut had 30 beds, fifteen along each side, with three coke stoves down the middle which attempted to heat the ward. вЂBotleys Park War HospitalвЂ™ eventually consisted of twenty huts, grouped around a central corridor, with outlying buildings for nurseвЂ™s homes and stores, and with Botleys Park Mansion accommodating the doctors and nursing staff. These were known as the Emergency Medical Services whereas the original villas were allocated to non-military patients. In February 1940 thirteen huts were added to the site. ThomasвЂ™s Hospital in London, and was charged with receiving casualties from air-raids in London, and also to treat sick and wounded Service personnel from other military hospitals. The entire Botleys site was selected as an Emergency War Hospital as an annex to St. In reality there were few Spanish War patients, but with the threat of war across Europe, the government ordered that all hospitals should prepare for war casualties, particularly those situated only a reasonable distance from London. However, Botleys Park didnвЂ™t have much time to establish itself before some of the villas were commandeered to be used by casualties expected from the Spanish Civil War.

The grounds of the 18th century mansion provided vast quantities of recreation space as well as gardens, woodlands and even a farm. It offered its patients a more progressive way of living and with the hospital designed on a вЂњVillaвЂќ system, the patients could be grouped in separate units according to their varying degrees of needs. To accommodate the patients a new wing was added to the mansion, and 21 smaller houses or villas were built in the grounds. An early brochure states, вЂњBotleys is not a Mental Hospital although, its primary purpose is the care, treatment and remedial training of backward children and adultsвЂќ. Botleys Park Hospital opened in 1939 and was one of the few modern hospitals of this type in the country. The County continued to run the facility until the inception of the National Health Service in 1948. Shortly after Botleys Park was bought by the London County Council it was purchased by Surrey County Council, and by 1934 it was listed in KellyвЂ™s Directory as being a вЂњcolony for mental defectivesвЂќ.

Staff at a korean war hospital